1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vending machine and, in particular to a vending machine including a refrigeration compartment, an oven compartment, structure for transferring a food product from the refrigeration compartment to the oven compartment, and structure for transferring the food product from the oven compartment to a user of the vending machine.
2. Related Art
Vending machines for storing and distributing food and other items to customers upon payment of a specified sum of money are known. In some vending machines, hot food can be dispensed to customers. Such vending machines typically include a refrigerator for storing food, an oven for cooking food, a mechanism for transferring food between the refrigerator and oven, and a mechanism for dispensing the food from the vending machine. One previous vending machine is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,387 to Smith et al., entitled "Food Handling System." Such vending machines have experienced problems, however, particularly in the storage area where the packages which contain the food items are typically stacked so high that packages at the bottom of the stack become crushed.